Yanni Gourde leads Lightning over Blackhawks

[March 08, 2021]    Yanni Gourde had two goals as part of a four-goal barrage in the second period and added two assists to boost the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning to a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon.

Tangling with the Blackhawks at the United Center for the third time in four days, the Lightning rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take the rubber match of the weekend series while winning for the seventh time in eight games.

Chicago Blackhawks center Pius Suter (24) is checked by Tampa Bay Lightning center Blake Coleman (20) in front of goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during the first period at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Victor Hedman had a goal and an assist -- both as part of a Lightning power play that went 4-for-5 -- while goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy rebounded from a shaky start to make 22 saves. Ondrej Palat also had a goal and an assist.

Gourde scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period before the Lightning added two more late in the third, the last a power-play tally from Pat Maroon with 2:35 remaining.

Mattias Janmark had a power-play goal and an assist for the Blackhawks, who grabbed a 3-0 advantage on Pius Suter's goal at 3:11 of the second. The Lightning responded 40 seconds later with a power-play goal off the stick of Palat

Hedman tied the game at 3-all with a power-play goal at 7:51 of the second, but things really escalated less than three minutes later. Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy left his feet to drill Erik Cernak with a high check and was assessed a match penalty and game misconduct. Cernak left the game with an upper body injury and did not return.

Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton's decision to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen made the Murphy development slightly more palatable for the Blackhawks, who still had six defenders available down the stretch.

The Blackhawks killed the five-minute Lightning power play.

The Lightning outshot the Blackhawks 39-25. Chicago goaltender Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves.

Tampa Bay has won four of five against Chicago to open the season. The Lightning won 3-2 on Thursday on Alex Killorn's goal in the final second of overtime before the Blackhawks responded with a 4-3 shootout victory on Friday.

The teams are set to meet at Tampa Bay's Amalie Arena on March 18 and 20 before concluding the regular-season series at the United Center on April 27.

--Field Level Media

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